Plate-holding apparatus



2 Sheets-Sheet l.

(No Modem J. P. DECKER.

PHOTOGRAPHIG PLATE HOLDING APPARATUS.

No. 402,512. Patented Apr. 30, 1889.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

J. P. DECKER.

PHoToGRAPHIG PLATE HOLDING APPARATUS.

Patented Apr. 30, 1889.

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UNITED STATES JACOB l. DECKER, Ol NEW YORK, il. Y., ASSlGNOR TO l. et' li. T.

PATENT UEEICE.

df (`OMPT\.Y, 0F SAME PLATE.

PHOTOGRAPHlC-PLATE-HOLDING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 402,512, dated .April 30, 1889.

Application filed December 3, 1888. Serial No` 292,458. [No model.)

Be it. known that I ineen l). DECKER, a vcitizen ot' the United States, and a resident of New York eity, in the County el' New York and State ot New York, have invented eertain new and useful Improvements in hoteg'raphie Apparatus, of which the followin is aspeeiIiea-tion.

My invention relaties to an improvement in photographie apparatus, and has speeial relation to a new plate-holding box whieh dil'- t'ers in material respetifts from othersl heretofore known to me, the construction and arrangement ot whieh is sueh that an. indelinite number of plates or sensitive surfaces maybe carried in the same holder, they being auto matieally and sueeessively presented at the rear of the camera-box in proper position tor exposure, ot' which exposures also a reeord is kept, whereby the number ot' the still sensi tive or unused plates may be :meertained at a glance.

My invention also relates to improvements in the means whereby the shutter may be operated and the proper :toeus ol ttained.

In the drawings the same reterenee-letters indicate the same parts in all the figures.

Figure l. illustraties an edge vview of the holder partly in section. YFig. 2 illustrates a side view ot the holder partly in seetion, the shutter-being closed. lflig. z3 illustrates a horizontal seetion of the holder, taken on the line af c of Fig. l. Fig. t illustrates an elevation of one side ot the holder, the shutter being` opened. Fig. illustrates a vertical seetional view on the line 1/ 11/ oi' Fig. l. Fie. t5 illustrates a vertical. seetion on the line .r ,r ol' Fig. 5.

A the eam erleben, openen@ ed rearwardly, as new well understood.

B is the platedmlvding box, in whieh the Carriers which primarily receive the 'plates or sensitive surfaces are plaeed. l will he -einaftereall this box l the plate-holder." '.lhe

side and. edges ot the plate-holder are made double-walled, there being' a space between them, as at lilies. 3, 5, and o.

D is a partition, whieh runs horizontally aeross the platedlohler iny its medial. line, jthus dividing` the holder into two substantially equal compartments, .l and l. The partition l) does not extend entirely across the interior et the plate-holder, there beiner openings G ll on eaeh side theroot, trough which a plate-ezurier may easily drop, as hereinafter set forth.

lV .l are two exposure pertures at opposite ends and on opposite sides ot' the plate-holderli L are two shutters, whieh respeetively close the eXposure-apertures l J. They are operated b v means ot a pivoted slotted arm, li, whieh has a segmentgear, lil), on its rear end meshing' into another pivoted segmentg'ear, lf, which has a lever, li, projectingfrom the side et the plate-holder threugh a slot, N, made therein.

O is a stud, preferably provided with an anti-trietion .roller or sleeve, whieh plays in the slot of the arm hl.

l is a spring-paul, .ihieh is ii bied to the arm l and engages with the teeth. olf a ratchet, Q, whieh is fast to an index-plate, R, which has numerals on its i'aee. The numeralsregister with ahole, H, made in the side ot" the box.

'if is a stop-pawl, whieh holds the ratchet Q from baeliward turninr All the shutter-op'. serilfed are inelosed .i u ot" the plate-holder, a .i f fwnand tully proteeted, tv i 1 iner llever il, which ir operator to manipulate the shutter. llt will he seen that these applinnees are provided in duplieateuoue set tor eaeh shutter-and eensequently the numb-ers en the respeetive index-plates are on one all edd and on theother all even numbers, 't'or the reason hereinafter explained.

The earriers n u,

whieh support and glass or other plates eoated with the sensitized material, maylm made in a preferred manner. They are open-il'aeed at eaeh side, and bythe fensi iz/.ed iurlaee if he exposed, and there is a ligit-exelndine' diaphragm between the baelis oi the sensitired surlfaees, as usualin sueh deviees. preter to make them of metal and with perl'eetly smooth and preterablyroinnled edges and eorners, so that their lOO movement within the plate-holder may be accomplished with ease and so that their bulk may be as little as possible. There may be as many of these carriers used as desired, provided their total number is an uneven oneas, for instance, in the illustration there are nine. This is necessary because there must be one more carrier/in the/compartment when the exposure is first made-than in the other one, 'as will hereinafter appear. The capacity of the plate-holder B is such as to accommodate the desired number, and each of these carriers is numbered on one side with an odd number, commencing` with No. 1, and on the other side with an even number, the carrier which is numbered 1 on. one side having on its reversed side the even number which is next beyond the total number of carriers. Thus in the present instance the carrier shown in position for exposure in Fig. 5 is numbered 1 on the side which is presented to the cameralens and 10 on its opposite side. The next one is numbered 8 on the side facing the camera and 12 on the reversed side, and so on. lIn this manner the numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, and 17 are on one side of the several carriers and 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18 on the reverse sides thereof, respectively; and in placing them in the plate-holder they are so arranged that the odd numbers in sequence face the exposure-aperture of 'the compartment wherever they are placed, and all the even numbers in sequence face the exposure-aperture in the other compartment, and the odd and also the even numbers should be placed in the compartmentto which they severally belong, which will be determined by the index-plates already described, one of them having the-odd and the other the even numbers there'on, and the iirst exposure should be made commencing with the sensitive surface numbered 1.

The operation of the apparatus as thus far described is as follows: The double carriers being each supplied, as stated, with two plates Ym: tablets or films, as the case may be, the

outwardly-presented surfaces whereof are sensitive to the action of light, as now well understood, are placed in the several compartments of the plate-holder in the manner described-that is to say, with one more carrier in the compartment containing' those having the odd numbers than in the others. The plate-holder is then placed in position against the rear of the camera-box and there fasttened, all as now well understood, and as shown in Fig. 5; the lower half of the plate-holder only being then employed in coactive relation with the camera-box. The first exposure is then made by the operation of the shutter-lifting mechanism. (Best seen in Figs. 2 and 4t.) During this act the figure `1 on the index-plate is made to appear opposite the opening in the side of the plate-holder, thus indicating that one exposure has been made. The shutter is then lowered by a reverse movement of the shutter-operating mechanism, during which the ind ex-plate will not be moved, owing to the holding action of the stop-pawl. To make the next exposure, the plate-holder is released from the rear end )f the camera, and it is bodily turned over in the hands of the operator, the top being turned toward him, and it i-s again applied to the rear of the camera-box, as before. The eifect of doing this is, first, the carrier bearing the even number which is next in sequence to No. l-z'. e., No. 2--is exposed through the exposure-aperture now presented to the lens, and also the carrier numbered 1 has slid by the action of gravity .through the opening in the partition of the plate-holder into the opposite compartment, thus making one more carrier in that compartment, which originally had one less, than in the other. 0f course during the turning over of the plateholder the carriers in the compartment having the less number in it drop by gravity to the lower side of the said compartment, thus making room for the passage of the carrier from the other compartment into it. An exposure is then made of the second plate by an operation of the shutter belonging to the compartment in which it is situated, the same as before, during which the number 2 on its index-plate is brought opposite the opening in that side of the plate-holder, thus showing that two exposures have been made. In this manner, one after the other, all the exposures are made, the carriers, one after the other at successive overturnings of the plate-holder, passing from one compartment into the other, and the indexes will progressively show the number of exposures made, and consequently the number of unexposed or still sensitive surfaces remaining in the plate-holder.

It will of course be seen that the numbering of the carriers is not essential, exce )ting to show which particular surfaces have een exposed. The indexes will show the number of exposures irrespective of the particular ones exposed; but this latter knowledge is sometimes very essential.

I have not as yet described a part of my apparatus, in order to avoid confusion. It is as follows:

In order that the carriers may move easily under the action` of gravity, and that all jamming and sticking may be avoided, it is desirable th at the carriers should have very free movement in the plate-holden Thus there is necessarily considerable lost motion, so called, possible, which might in j uriou sly affect the correct focal position of the sensitive surface. In order that each exposure may be accurately made and the focus correct, I provide the following mechanism: 70 is a milled thumbscrew, the shank of which carries a little pinion, l, located between the double thickness of the edge of the plate-holder. The little pinion meshes into segment-gears m on the ends of the two levers n n', pivoted at 0 o', which are also located between the said double walls, but which are bent at right angles at their IOO IIO

ends 02, passing through slots p, cut through the inner wall of the plate-holder into the interior thereof, and they are constructed and arranged to engage with the rear side of the carrier which is farthest from the exposureaperture of that compartment, and a recess, q, is provided in the side of the plate-holder, into which this right-angle end n of the levers can pass, thus preventing them from interfering with the movements of the carriers.

The operation of this part of my apparatus is as follows: Prior to each exposure the thumb-screw is twisted in the proper direction, which, through the instrumentality of the pinion and the segment-gears, causes the right-angle ends of the levers to move forwardly, pressing the entire numberof carriers in the compartment in which the exposure is to take place toward the exposure-aperture. This compels the sensitive surface upon which the picture is about to be taken to assume a correct focal position, which is determined by the sides of the exposure-aperture against which the carrier is thus pressed.

lt is obvious that my plato-holder may be made of such dimensions that the exposures can be made horizontally, as well as vertically, of the sensitive surface.

l do not limit myself to the details of construction shown and described, because it will be obvious to those who are skilled in such matters that many changes may be made in them and still my invention be employed.

I claiml. A plate-holding box provided with exposure-apei)tures at opposite ends and on opposite sides, a light-excluding shutter for each aperture, and a partition across the box having openings therein for the passage of the carriers, substantially as set forth.

2. A plate-holding box having exposureapertures at opposite ends and on opposite sides, a light-excluding shutter for each aperture, a partition across the box having openin therein for the passage of the carriers, and an index operated at the same time with the shutter, substantially as set forth.

23. A plate-holding' box having exposureapertures at opposite ends and on opposite sides, a light-excluding shutter for each aperture, a partition across the box having openings therein for the passage of the carriers, and means, substantially as described, to secure the proper focal position of the surface about to be exposed, substantially as set forth.

t A plate-holding box having exposureapertures at opposite ends and on opposite sides, a light-exchidiug shutter for cach aperture, a partition across the box having openings therein for the passage of the carriers, an index operated at the same time with the shutters, and means, substantially as described, to secure the proper focal position of the sensitive surface about to bo exposed, substantially as set forth.

5. A plate-holding box having exposureapertures at opposite ends and on opposite sides thereof, in combination with dual series of sensitive surfaces, one series presented to one of said expesule-apertures and the other to the other, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination of a plate-holding box havingexposure-apertures on opposite sides and opposite ends with a dual series of sensitive surfaces, one series presented to one of said apertures and the other to the other one of said series, exceeding' by one the number of the other series, substantially as set forth.

' 7. A plate-holding box having double sides and edges and provided with exposure-aperertures at opposite ends an d on opposite sides, shutters for the said apertures, and shutteroperating mechanism, substantially as described, and focusing mechanism, substantially as described, both plates between the double walls of the box, substantially as sei. forth.

S. A plate-holdingbox having double walled sides and provided with exposure-apertures at opposite ends and on opposite sides, shutters for the said apertures, and shutteroperating mechanism, substantially as described, placed between the double walls, substantially as set forth.

9. A plate-holdingbox having double walled sides and exposnre-apertures at opposite ends and on opposite sides, shutters for the said apertures, and shutter-operating and exposure-indicating mechanism, substantially as set forth.

lO. A plate-holding box having double walls and edges, exposure-apertures at opposite ends and opposite sides, shutters to the said apertures, and focusing mechanism, substantiallyas described, placed between the double walls of the box, substantially as set forth.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 30th day of November, A. D. i888.

JACOB P. DECKER. lVitnesses:

WILLIAM Pneu, PruLLiPs ABBoTl.

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